North American dealers have a well-educated friend and advocate in the newly named CEO of the world's largest automaker, said Jack Hollis, the head of sales for Toyota Motor North America.
Koji Sato, a longtime executive at Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan and a protege of current CEO Akio Toyoda, will succeed his mentor in running the automaker effective April 1. As the head of sales for its North American arm, Hollis told dealers Thursday at the J.D. Power Auto Summit in Dallas that Sato knows the North American franchised dealer model and is a fan.
The succession announcement "was great for us in North America, because he's been [coming to] the U.S. over 10 years to study our market," Hollis said. "He is an engineer of engineers, very passionate about North America and dealers and the franchise model, and the product itself."